Russia says Sweden will face military action if it joins NATO


Russia would take military ‘countermeasures’ if Sweden were to join NATO, Russian ambassador Viktor Tatarintsev said in an interview with Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

Decrying what he called an ‘aggressive propaganda campaign’ by the media, Tatarinstev stressed that ‘Sweden is not a target for our armed troops’, The Independent reports.

At that, asked about a recent surge of Swedish support for joining NATO, the ambassador said: “If it happens, there will be countermeasures”.

“Putin pointed out that there will be consequences, that Russia will have to resort to a response of the military kind and re-orientate our troops and missiles,” he recalled.

“The country that joins Nato needs to be aware of the risks it is exposing itself to,” Tatarintsev stressed.

At the same time, Mr Tatarintsev expressed his confidence that the country would not join the Western military organisation: “I don’t think it will become relevant in the near future”.

www.belsat.eu/en/, following The Independent

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